05/30/06
7,054,829 Method and system for validating votes
Issued: May 30, 2006
Filed: December 31, 2002
U.S. Class: 705/12
Abstract: A method and system for validating the creation and submission of absentee ballots is provided. An authentication/validation mark is generated and printed on an absentee ballot and/or the envelope that contains the absentee ballot. The authentication/validation marks include information such as, for example, the date and time of printing, an identification and location of the vote validator that generated and printed the mark, a unique identifier of the mark, and a digital signature of the authentication/validation data. Upon receipt of the absentee ballot by election officials, the authentication/validation marks printed on the absentee ballot and/or envelope containing the ballot can be verified by authenticating the digital signature and verifying the validity of the data in the mark. If the mark is verified, the authenticity and creation/submission dates of the absentee ballot are guaranteed and the absentee ballot can be accepted as a valid absentee ballot for election purposes.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:55:39 pm into the following categories:
Patents of the Day
05/30/06
7,054,833 Method and system for processing unclaimed property information
Issued: May 30, 2006
Filed: October 27, 2000
U.S. Class: 705/26
Abstract: A method and system for processing unclaimed property information. Escheat or unclaimed property information is periodically obtained from one or more unclaimed property repositories. The unclaimed property information maintained in multiple formats at the one or more unclaimed property repositories is transformed into a unified database format. Multiple database records are created in an unclaimed property database using the unified database format. Owners of unclaimed property, identified in the unclaimed property database are automatically located by searching one or more other databases on public and private computer networks such as the Internet. A located owner of unclaimed property is automatically notified as to the existence and amount of unclaimed property with electronic mail, an automatic voice recording or via paper documents. A graphical user interface available on a computer network is presented that allows an identified owner of unclaimed property to request unclaimed property. The graphical user interface is used to automatically request that unclaimed property from the one or more unclaimed property repositories for the identified owner be disbursed to the identified owner of unclaimed property.

Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:54:53 pm into the following categories:
Patents of the Day
05/30/06
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OG Notice Links
05/30/06
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 01:38:39 pm into the following categories:
OG Notice Links
05/30/06
StreamCast Networks, the company behind the Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing program Morpheus, has sued 22 firms including eBay over patent infringement of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. StreamCast has sued Skype, now owned by eBay, for US$4 billion for using its network and infringing on its patent rights. The suit also seeks an injunction that prohibits eBay from selling Skype’s VoIP. Also, Sharman Networks, the founders of Kazaa, another file sharing network, have been indicted for providing the VOIP with Skype.
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:59:39 am into the following categories:
In The News
05/30/06
Social networking company Reunion.com announced earlier this week it has filed a patent-infringement suit against online address-book maker Plaxo. Reunion.com is seeking damages and an injunction against Plaxo, which the company says is violating a patent Reunion.com acquired with the purchase of GoodContacts Research in 2004. GoodContacts developed a method for automatically updating and maintaining contact information within a database, and Reunion.com believes Plaxo's services infringe on that patent, officials say.
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:59:15 am into the following categories:
In The News
05/30/06
Medtronic Inc. lost an appeals court bid yesterday to revive patent-infringement lawsuits against Guidant Corp. and Boston Scientific Corp. over devices that prop open heart arteries. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a judge's 2005 ruling that neither Guidant nor Boston Scientific infringes Medtronic patents for stents, tiny mesh tubes that prop open blood vessels to the heart after they have been cleared by angioplasty.
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:57:35 am into the following categories:
In The News
05/30/06
Mosaid Technologies Inc., which has been aggressively defending its intellectual property in U.S. courts, saidd Friday it is in talks with Infineon Technologies AG to settle a Texas case. The Ottawa provider of semiconductor technology and memory test and analysis systems said the Texas court is granting a 30-day delay in the hearing that had been scheduled to begin Wednesday, “to allow the parties to focus on ongoing settlement discussions.” Mosaid alleges products from the German chipmaker use technology covered by Mosaid U.S. patents for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuits.
Posted by GEN-ERIC at 02:56:41 am into the following categories:
In The News